A heavy, braked 300 RUM is not bad to shoot... and honestly how many people shoot more than 30rounds through that large a caliber within a day's shooting anyway.

I guess 300 RUM isn't "in" in the tacticool world like the 7 WSM or 300 WM.

A 300 RUM is a significant performance step up from a 300 win mag, while also superior to the 7 WSM ballistically, it is a big step up in kinetic energy on target!

300 win mag is a good choice if this rifle will be getting a lot of range time, but for a dedicated 600-1200yard LR hunting hammer i would have gone with the RUM, if i'm staying in a standard .700" dia action and didn't want to step up to 338 caliber.

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"Out of range" is a theoretical concept as far as I'm concerned. Send it!

He might be happier down the road. I have owned many large 30's all the way up to a 30-378 and I had a few of those. When I built a full custom a few years ago I went with a 300 WM. It is all I need up to elk sized game to 1000 with 210 Bergers. And it has stacked up tons of game. I don't miss the larger cases at all and I am more than pleased with the 1/2 moa accuracy of the 300 WM to 1000 yards. Nothing against the others, but the 300 WM is hard to beat in my eyes.

Your Freind, (A Very nice guy I might add) asked me a simple question "what caliber would I choose for long range shooting?" I fairly quickly told him 7MM WSM and added that its mainly becouse of the BC of the 7mm Bullets and the ability to get them to about 3000 FPS. He then asked what if it were between the 300 Win Mag and the 300 RUM , I told him the 300 Win Mag. He nodded and I told him most guys that get a 300 Rum end up regretting it. I left the room and your freind made his own decision!!

OK why the 7m WSM , The BC and Sectional Density of the 7mm VLD's are tops. the Berger Hunting Hybrid ( Widden Pointed ) has a BC near .740 (verified) With RL17 and Superformance it makes 2950 to 3030 in a 26" barrel. all in a Short action caliber. Recoil is about 1/2 the recoil of the 300 RUM with the 230's and 240's which are the only bullets with even close to a BC of the 7mm. Why is this Important

Practice, Your freind said the main reason for this purchase was that he missed a big elk and wanted to get a rifle to better his chances. The Rifle does not do this, the shooter does and if your freind is going to practice shots from 600-800 yards and get good enough to constitly make these shots at these distances he will be shooting alot of ammo. The 300 Rum will not be a fair choice for him to learn with. The 7mm WSM is alot better as the recoil will be less and help in the learning curve . The rifle will also allow a couple thousand rounds prior to re-barrel then the 700-800 round 300RUM. Anyone telling somone to go get a 300 RUM and you will be able to make shoots at 800 yards is plain and simply full of **** and has watched way to much TV and Internet Crap.

Case in Point, a couple years ago in West Virginia we were on the Bottom of the ASC Course (algnehey Sniper chalenge) there is a Target at the Top of the Mountain thats actully shot from a different place. From where we were it lased 1997 yards with a Vector 21. I asked if we could take a couple swings at it. I had a 25" barreled 7mm WSM shooting 180 Bergers, My freind and good shooting buddy Jeff Badley was shooting the same but with 175 Sierra VLD's There was another shooter there with a 338 Extreme (408 Cheytac necked to 338). I figured 25.5 Mils elevation for the DA, and 3.5 mils of left wind and let one fly the time of flight was over 3 seconds. My bullet hit 4 inches right but centered perfectly with the target verticly basicly it was 13" from a dead center hit and it would have knocked an Elks Dick in the Dirt. I fired a second shot and was 4 inches from my first Impact. Jeff took a shot and hit the target on his first shot about 5 inches high and 3 right." The guy with the Super 338 Mag shot a Box and a half and never even got within 10 feet of the target. My rifle was on its second barrel and Jeff ownes 3, 7mm WSM rifles. The guy with the 338 Extreme thought the rifle would do the shooting for him.

Rifles and calibers are only tools the Markman (yourself) has to have the knoledge to make the bullet strike the target.

Ill Steal this from a well known Instructor " Long Range Shooting is alot more about thinking than pulling the trigger"!!!!

Ill make one more observance then Ill quit. I know one guy out of all my vast freinds and aquantances that actully hunts for a living. and I mean he gets paid to wake up in the AM grab his favirite hunting gear and hit the woods 365 days a year (weather permiting) and hunt when he is not working he is hunting for himself and guides others. Most of his hunting is pretty much LR hunting 300-1000 Yards. This guy has killed more Deer , Elk, and Antelope than anyone I know or have read about and more coyotes than you can imagine. If you were to ask him what his favorite LR hunting caliber is it would be between 308 Win, 260 and 6mm XC. This is possible becouse of his knoledge and experience!!! You guys here on LR Hunting probably know who im talking about!

OP, your freind was wise to pick a 300 WM, Ammo is easy to get and alot cheeper, there is a huge selection over 300 RUM, he can find 300 Win Mag in just about any hardware store in the US. And he can practice alot without the recoil and the barrel wear of the 300 RUM. later if he wants he can step up to a big Mag and push the envelope.

Some may dissagree with me, thats fine, Does not make a difference to me. Everyones is intitled to their opinion.

To all the guys that have Big 300 and 338 Mags and practice alot with them, there is no argument that they are affective but I dont think they are the right fit for this guy who is brand new and just wants to get involved in long range shooting.

And BTW most of the GAP guys do Hunt, Myself and Moon actully hunt alot and I really enjoy taking game at Long Range.